Publications
Research Articles
23. Iron-borane catalyzed carbonyl hydroboration and isolation of an iron(I)-ketyl radical
L. A. Grose, R. J. Schwamm, A. Brookfield, D. Robinson*, D. Willcox* Nature Commun. 2026, 17, 2929
22. Unusual Reactivity of a Heterobimetallic Al─Zn Complex With a Carbodiimide
J. Hemsworth, J. Tomeček, A. Hasija, G. F. S. Whitehead, N. Kaltsoyannis, D. P. Mills*, D. Willcox* Chem. Eur. J. 2026, e03282
21. Nitrile Hydroboration by Cooperative Iron Catalysis: An Experimental and Computational Study
L. A. Grose, Y. Zhang, S. Oultram, R. J. Schwamm, S. de Visser*, D. Willcox* Chem. Eur. J, 2025, doi: 10.1002/chem.202501782
20. The Facile Synthesis of Exogenous Lewis-Base-Free Amidoalanes: A Structural Comparison
J. Hemsworth, A. Vinogradov, W. Lewis, S. Woodward, D. Willcox*, Molecules, 2025, 30, 986–997.
19. Dichloromethyl(diaryl) Sulfonium Salts as gem-Dichlorocyclopropanation Reagents
B. J. Moore, D. Willcox*, Org. Lett. 2025, 27, 1402–1406.
18. Olefin Hydroboration Catalyzed by an Iron-borane Complex
L. A. Grose, D. Willcox*, Chem. Commun. 2023, 59, 7427–7430.
17. Mechanistic Insight Driven Rate Enhancement of Asymmetric Copper-Catalysed 1,4-Addition of Dialkylzinc Reagents to Enones
R. Nouch, S. Woodward, D. Willcox, D. Robinson, W. Lewis, Organometallics, 2020, 39, 6, 834–840.
16. 1,3-Carboboration of Iodonium Ylides
T. A. Gazis, B. A. J. Mohajeri Thaker, D. Willcox, D. M. C. Ould, J. Wenz, J. M. Rawson, M. S. Hill, T. Wirth, R. L. Melen, Chem. Commun., 2020, 56, 3345–3348.
15. Radical Reactivity of Frustrated Lewis Pairs with Diaryl Esters
Y. Soltani, A. Dasgupta, T. A. Gazis, D. M. C. Ould, E. Richards, B. Slater, K. Stefkova, V. Y. Vladimirov, L. C. Wilkins, D. Willcox, R.L. Melen, Cell Reports Physical Science, 2020, 1, 100016.
14. Asymmetric ketone hydroboration catalyzed by alkali metal complexes derived from BINOL ligands
D. Willcox, J. L. Carden, A. J. Ruddy, P. D. Newman, R. L. Melen, Dalton Trans., 2020, 49, 2417–2420.
13. Borane-Catalyzed Heterocycle Synthesis
D. Willcox, R. L. Melen, Trends in Chemistry, 2019, 1, 625–626.
12. Streamlined Synthesis of C(sp3)-rich N-Heterospirocycles Enabled by Visible-light-Mediated Photocatalysis
N. J. Floden, A. D. Trowbridge, D. Willcox, S. Walton, Y. Kim, M. J. Gaunt, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 8426–8430.
11. Mechanistic Investigation into the C(sp3)–H Acetoxylation of Morpholinones
C. Buettner, D. Willcox, B. G. N. Chappell, M. J. Gaunt, Chem. Sci., 2019, 10, 83–89.
10. Kinetic Analysis of Copper(I)/Feringa-Phosphoramidite Catalysed AlEt3 1,4-Addition to Cyclohex-2-en-1-one
D. Willcox, R. Nouch, A. Kingsbury, D. Robinson, J. Carey, S. Brough, S. Woodward, ACS Catal., 2017, 7, 6901–6908.
9. A General Catalytic β-C−H Carbonylation of Aliphatic Amines to β-Lactams
D. Willcox, B. G. N. Chappell, K. F. Hogg, J. Calleja, A. P. Smalley, M. J. Gaunt, Science, 2016, 354, 851–857.
8. Enantioselective 1,4-additions of ClMeAl(CH=CHR) (R = alkyl, alkenyl, Ph) to cyclohexenones
D. Willcox, S. Woodward, A. Alexakis, Chem. Commun. 2014, 50, 1655–1657.
7. Assessing the utility of HAlCl2 derived vinylalanes for Michael addition
D. Willcox, M. Garcia, H. Gondal, S. Woodward, Tetrahedron Lett. 2014, 55 1720–1721.
6. ZrCl2(η-C5Me5)2-AlHCl2·(THF)2: Efficient Hydroalumination of Terminal Alkynes and Cross-Coupling of the Derived Alanes
P. Andrews, C. Latham, M. Magre, D. Willcox, S. Woodward, Chem. Commun. 2013, 49, 1488–1490.
Reviews, highlights and book chapters
5. Recent advances in iron-catalysed hydroboration
L. A. Grose* D. Willcox,* Organometallic Chemistry: Volume 45. Eds. C. Bakewell, N. Costa, R. Musgrave, G. Owens, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2024, 93–116.
4. Lewis Acidic Boranes in Frustrated Lewis Pair Chemistry
T. A. Gazis, D. Willcox,* R. L. Melen,* Frustrated Lewis Pairs, Molecular Catalysis Vol 2. Eds. C. J. Slootweg, A. R. Jupp, Springer Cham, 2021, 209–236.
3. Borocations in Catalysis
K. Stefkova, L. J. Gierlichs, D. Willcox,* R. L. Melen,* Encyclopedia of Inorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry, 2020, doi: 10.1002/9781119951438.eibc2641
1. Ligated organocuprates: an A–Z route map of mechanism and application
S. Woodward, D. Willcox, Innovative Catalysis in Organic Synthesis. Ed. P. G. Andersson, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany 2012, 233–255.